St. Valentine's Day came a little early for 200 youth, as they gathered to attend "Cupid's KickBack 2" on Saturday, February 10th @ Plummer Park's Room 5 & 6. The event was presented by the West Hollywood Teen Center and the C.I.T.Y. x1 Youth Group. The goal of both organizations was to put on a free community event for youth ages 14 & up that celebrated the holiday. The alcohol/tobacco free event was held from 6:00pm-9:00pm and created a safe space for youth to specialize in.

"Cupid's KickBack 2" consisted of a free BBQ, with hamburgers and hot dogs, several raffle prizes, and attendees from all over Southern California. And what would a party be without a live DJ!? Everyone danced to the sounds of DJ Butch and his crew. The dance floor was never empty during the duration of the event and a couple of entertaining dance competitions were also held. All of this took place in a room completely decorated in red & pink and tons of handmade Cupid décor (all made by the youth of the WeHo Teen Center).

This was the second year that the WeHo Teen Center and C.I.T.Y. x1 teamed up for this event. The first "Cupid's KickBack" was held one year ago, also on the Saturday before St. Valentine's. That particular event drew attendance of 160 youth and also had many of the same attractions as this year's event. Taking note of the success of the first event, both organizations saw the benefits of teaming up once again. "The planets lined up for us. Everything turned out great, a lot of prizes were given away, and we created a positive environment for the youth", said Carlos Sosa of C.I.T.Y. x1. He went on to say, "What amazes me is that we had just under 3 weeks to publicize the event and yet we drew a larger crowd than last year".

Raffles were held throughout the evening with prizes consisting of water bottles, Valentine's themed gift baskets, t-shirts, CD's, notebooks, and DVD's. In between the drawing of winning tickets, a special dance performance was provided by The Fanatix. The group was made up of youth from the community who find self-expression through dance, performance, and music.

In addition to the raffles and giveaways, youth were also able to access community resources. On hand were the L.A. Free Clinic (which donated the water bottles), Central High School/TRI-C, and USC's OUTReach team. The USC Trojans provided information on LGBTQ life on campus, how to access tuition, and information on how to get involved with the campus. Also on hand was Bienestar, who brought down their Mobile testing Unit, which provided free HIV Rapid Testing.

"This is amazing! I loved this event and met a lot of new people" said Brandon J., a youth who came all the way from Inglewood for "Cupid's KickBack 2". Brandon's peers also came from as close as Hollywood, to as far as Orange County and the San Fernando Valley for the second annual event. The attendance was extremely diverse in ethnicity, zip codes gender, age, and backgrounds. To the surprise of many, this event was the only free/community/local St. Valentine's event held in West Hollywood and the greater L.A. area. While there were festivities held across the city in honor of St. Valentine's, few were packaged in the way that "Cupid's KickBack 2" was, with free admission, free food, a live DJ, tons of giveaways, and a diverse crowd.

By the end of the evening, 200 people had been entertained and treated to a memorable event. The evening closed with a last dance and both organizations thanking everyone for attending.

Check out the photos!